Newington VA Housing Complex Welcomes First Tenants

Project Broke Ground A Year Ago

August 16, 2013|By CHRISTOPHER HOFFMAN, Special to The Courant, The Hartford Courant

NEWINGTON – It's a victory in the war on veteran homelessness.

Victory Gardens, a housing complex for homeless and at-risk veterans and their families, has accepted its first tenants less than a year after breaking ground. Men and woman who served in wars form Korea to Afghanistan and Iraq have moved into 36 of the development's 74 planned units, said Mollye Wolahan, deputy director of the Women's Institute for Housing and Economic Development.

"It's wonderful to have people actually there," Wolahan said. "It was so much hard work to get this project done. It's been an amazing partnership with the VA and the town."

The Women's Institute for Housing and Economic Development is building the complex in partnership with the Veterans Administration. The housing is being built on vacant land at the VA's Newington campus.

The VA has identified veteran homelessness as a serious problem and initiated programs to attack it. A survey last year, for example, revealed 10 to 15 percent of Connecticut's homeless – about 950 men and women – are veterans.

The application process for Victory Gardens confirmed the need for the complex. Three times as many people applied as there were available units, Wolahan said. The response was gratifying, but also sobering, she said.

"There's more we could have built," Wolahan said. "We could have constructed twice the size."

Victory Gardens provides not only housing, but also life skills, medical and other services to help veterans get back on their feet. A community center that is part of the development will be completed soon, Wolahan said.

The institute has built five townhouses. It will construct two more and transform an existing structure into one-bedroom apartments, adding a total of 38 units, Wolahan said. She expects them to be done by December.

VA spokeswoman Pamela Redmon said that the agency is very pleased with the project. It's a pleasure to see the veterans and their families on the VA's Newington campus, she said.

"It's nice to see the children riding their bikes," Redmon said. "It's nice to see families there. The whole project has been a great addition to the campus and a great program for veterans. I've been inside the units and they are very nice and modern."

The VA's next project is Veterans Landing, a 103-unit assisted living facility also on the Newington campus, Redmon said. The project, still in its early stages, is expected to break ground in 2014, she said.

Wolahan said that Victory Gardens is not accepting new applications at this time. Veterans who want to submit an application in case the complex begins taking applications should call Demarco Management at 860-951-9411.